NEW YORK - January 7, 2013 - USA Network has elevated Michael Sluchan to senior vice president, original scripted programming, it was announced today by Bill McGoldrick, executive vice president, original scripted programming, and to whom Sluchan reports.

"Michael is a truly talented executive with vast relationships in the creative community and an incredible ability to nurture the types of writers and producers we love to work with," McGoldrick said.

Sluchan's responsibilities include overseeing the production of the current hit series' NECESSARY ROUGHNESS and ROYAL PAINS and the recent critically-acclaimed limited event series POLITICAL ANIMALS. He previously oversaw the critically acclaimed hit series MONK, starring Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning Tony Shalhoub, the first season of the Emmy Award-winning hit series THE STARTER WIFE, starring Debra Messing, and more recently IN PLAIN SIGHT. Sluchan, based in Los Angeles, also develops and oversees production on new shows for the network.

In October 1999, Sluchan joined USA as creative executive, longform programming. During his tenure, he developed and oversaw production of many projects, including "Dominick Dunne Presents: Murder In Greenwich," "Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story," "Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss," "Blood Crime," "Three Wise Guys," "12 Days of Christmas Eve," "Return to Cabin by the Lake," "Beer Money," "Another Day," "Trapped," "Stealing Christmas" and the four-hour miniseries "Spartacus." In 2005, he moved over to the original series area as director, original scripted programming, where he began working on the fourth season of MONK. He was soon promoted to vice president, original scripted programming in 2006.

Before arriving at USA, Sluchan worked in movies and miniseries development at Cosgrove/Meurer Productions and ABC Pictures. He began his career in New York at ABC News as production secretary for Lifetime Magazine with Lisa McRee. He then moved to Los Angeles as an assistant in the Cap Cities/ABC Network legal and business affairs department. From there, he went to work for Barbara Lieberman, senior vice president, motion pictures for television and miniseries, ABC Entertainment.

Sluchan currently serves as a Governor at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the Television Executive Peer Group. Outside of his professional endeavors, Sluchan is a former board member of Outfest, the leading organization showcasing, nurturing and preserving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film images and artistry.

Sluchan was born and raised in New York City and received his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in History, from the University of Pennsylvania.

The #1 network in all of basic cable for an unprecedented seven consecutive years, USA Network is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. USA is a leader in scripted programming with a powerful stable of originals, spectacular live television and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, a broad portfolio of acquired series and entertainment events. A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. The award-winning website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.